Learning to sew

Last year I decided that I wanted to learn to knit, and I managed to teach myself after reading several books, watching countless youtube videos on casting on, and asking Bill for help (who vaguely remembered little bits of knitting from hanging out with his aunt many, many years ago). I even briefly joined the knitting group at our local library which I enjoyed but didn't have the extra time in my schedule to continue going.

I'm not a good knitter. Definitely not a fast one, but I have the basics down and enjoy it so I figured it was time to add another domestic skill to my very short list. Enter sewing.

This particular hobby is a two-birds-one-stone kind of  thing because Ella wants to learn to sew as well. She also fancies herself as a budding clothing designer as well as an artist, and a 'hair and make up doer.' Doesn't get much girlier than that!

So she and I agreed to share our 'big' Christmas present this year and Bill got us a beginner to intermediate sewing machine. I thought an easy first project - after sewing a gazillion rows of straight lines with different stitches - would be a nonslip headband. Ha!

It took us about an hour to make it and I had to rip out some, not all, stitches twice, but we did it! I imagine (hope ??) it will get easier as we practice more.

Our machine can sew a number of different stitches and Ella wanted to embellish her headband with her favorite.

I lined it up but she did the rest all on her own.  And now she's ready to find all sorts of fun ribbon to make headbands for the daughters of some friends of ours who are living in China right now.

I think they'll love them!